


In the Shadows

by Dis_connect



Category: World of Warcraft
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-05-28
Updated: 2013-05-30
Packaged: 2017-12-13 05:36:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/820600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dis_connect/pseuds/Dis_connect
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Time takes its toll on everything.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hard-hats are advised as this is a zone heavily under construction. Working title/summary. Prone to expansion and retraction. I've just been tinkering a bit with this and seeing where it takes me because why not? I haven't read any of the books and haven't played for years. I may tweak, reword, or disregard 'canon' dialog. No guarantees of a cohesive beginning or middle but there is an ending...eventually. :)
> 
> I am a nerd.

_"I will take up this charge!"_  
  
 _"You understand the risks, sister?"_  
  
 _"I do."_  
  
 _"You understand that it will be a hard life, tucked into the Barrow Dens?"_  
  
 _"I do."_  
  
 _"You understand that this prisoner is forbidden from ever again seeing or setting foot upon the world?"_  
  
 _"I do."_  
  
 _It was a hard thing, to watch a sister willingly commit herself to the underground, away from the light of Elune, to guard a most unholy creature.  Yet someone must and by taking on the burden, she freed her kin._  
  
 _"Who will go with our sister?"_  
  
 _A chorus of voices replied, though no more than thirty, and each stepped forth to stand around the woman that would be their leader.  Malfurion smiled.  "Then I declare you the Watchers of Illidan Stormrage with Maiev Shadowsong as your Warden!"_  
  
      
    She could still hear the cheering if she thought on it hard enough.  She could still smell the sweet summer wind and hear the chorus of birds; the ringing of the blacksmith's hammer as it forged their armaments...feel the bittersweet rush of victory.  The whisper of their heavy cloaks when they first brought them from the seamstresses...thick to keep out the cold of the underground.    
  
    All these things kept her sane when she returned from her stints of watching Illidian; haunted her in sleep.  She heard the ring of the blacksmith's hammer in her present and left the small, makeshift temple she and her sisters had constructed in the barrow.  It was not as grand as Suramar, so very far from, but it performed amicably.  Her curiosity brought her to the forge where the orange light painted one of her underlings in fire and sweat.  
  
    "Anu?" she questioned as she walked in.   
  
    The Watcher grinned roguishly and carefully saluted with her hammer arm as her other was occupied with a set of tongs.  "Warden!"  
  
    "You are not due for a shift until tomorrow.  What are you doing?"  
  
    "Creating armor, Warden.  It will be in honor of Aviana, that she might bless us with speed and wisdom.  Kaela has created a vision of what it will look like if you woul--"  
  
    "Hmph.  Only one hundred years and already your minds are distracted."  
  
    Anu's face shadowed.  "Forgive me, Warden.  Our purpose is not forgotten.  We are using our off time as we see fit however if it displeases you, I will cast our creation into the forge."  
  
    A quiet stalemate ensued, stretching on for several minutes.  Maiev was yet undecided on how she felt regarding Anu's dancing between respect and sarcastic.  At length, the Warden took a slow breath.  "Carry on, sister."  
  
    "Warden."  
  
    Lamps like they had in the land above hung from and were tucked into the walls of the barrow den.  Their soft blue light made it hard on her eyes when she went topside and found herself in the glaring light of day.  Around sixty years she'd stopped making her weekly sojourns and contented herself with her lot in the den, leaving only when called upon or a shipment came for them.  She counted her steps in relation to the lights.  About five steps between and she estimated three if she was running.  She knew these things because she must, because the barrow was her home and she needed to know it inside and out.  
  
    "Mistress?"  
  
    Her head snapped to the left to spy another underling, this one unique among her own.  "Have you something to report?"  
  
    It could seem like the entire den was off duty at times however the Warden kept a strict schedule.  Five to watch Illidan's chamber, ten off duty, and fifteen to check other prisoners, perform maintenance, and practice their skills.  It was a rotating schedule every seven-day however the look she was getting told the Watcher Maiev might have forgotten it.  
  
    "I do, actually." she seemed to deflate in relief.   
  
    Maiev turned into the common room and took a seat on a stool, looking over maps of the barrow.  "We walk these halls each day, Naisha.  What is so important?"  
  
    "Here, Mistress."  
  
    How many times had she asked the girl to call her 'Warden' and not 'Mistress'?  Maiev swallowed her exasperation and followed along.  
  
    "You see here where there is a dead end?  Well, I was patrolling the other day and something felt...off.  I couldn't quite explain it but as I walked, I noticed newly turned soil.  I think we're going to have a breakout of spiders soon."  
  
    "Damn things." she hissed.  They liked to lay their eggs in the soft, moist dirt so that even if the Watchers destroyed the adults, their children lived to see another day.  "Did you test the soil at all?"  
  
    "No, Mistress.  I didn't want to risk alarming any potential egg sacks."  
  
    "Naisha, what is my title?"  
  
    "Warden, Mistress."  
  
    Said Warden almost laughed, for short of breaking the girl what more could she do?  "A squad will go down with torches and kindling.   See if we can't smoke the bastards out of hiding before they grow into their skins."  
  
    "I'd like to go with them."  
  
    "You are off duty."  
  
    "A few hours won't kill me, Mistress.  I just want to be sure."  
  
    Maiev brushed her fingers over her lips to stall a smirk.  "Organize the squad yourself, then."  
  
    "Yes, Mistress!"  
  
    "Naisha?"  
  
    She paused in the doorway.  "Yes, Warden?"  
  
    Was that a glimmer of humor in her eyes?  It must have been, Maiev hadn't managed to snuff it out yet.  This one was persistant, stubborn, and hungry to shine and stand out.  She liked to attack Maiev at odd times and though others thought the girl insane, Maiev enjoyed the challenge.  "You have shined among your peers, a sterling example of a Watcher.  As of now you are my Lieutenant.  Act accordingly."  
  
    Joy clearly welled in the _Kaldorei_ however she managed to tone it down to a grand smile as she saluted.  " _Elune adore_ , mistress!"   
  
    She ran and was not quite out of Maiev's hearing range when she hollared her excitement.  
  
  
  
      
  
    "Thanks!  Any news?"  
  
    "Nothing exciting." the farmer grinned at the Watcher as he hauled barrels off the cart.  "More students of the Druidic school have been coming and going.  The new High Priestess is really fitting into her role."  
  
    "Ah, I wish I could see her.  It was only a few minutes so long ago but now that her mantle has settled, she must be even more resplendant!"  
  
    He stopped for a moment, pulling out his best grin.  "Elune shines on you as well, Watcher."  
  
    She giggled and blushed as intended, knowing full well what he was playing at.  A barrow full of women meant that these bi-monthly visits were a wonderful time for a Watcher to...partake.  If they were so inclined.  Rakus was certainly not adverse and if they finished unloading the cart fast enough, she'd have a bit of time to enjoy herself.    
  
    "Rakus."  
  
    Or not.  
  
    "See to the Sabres."  
  
    "Yes, Warden."  
  
    All joviality left the farmer's face and he stared into the impassive mask of a fearsome legend.  " _E-Elune adore_ , Warden Shadowsong!"  
  
    " _Ishnu'alah_ , brother.  Is this the same order?"  
  
    "Uh...uh, yeah!" he gathered himself together again, producing a list.  "Fresh and dried rations, grains, several kegs of fresh tea leaves, a case of whetstones, three barrels of cream, six ne--"  
  
    "Cream?  I asked for no such thing!"  
  
    He turned the list to her.  "Warden, it was a last-minute addition, a request received by hippogryph.  Also, the High Priestess has ordered four kegs of two-hundred year old moonberry wine for the Watchers.   Should I take them back?"  
  
    On pat, Naisha appeared and shook her head.  "No, brother.  The cream was my request and we would never refuse a gift from the High Priestess."  
  
    He seemed relieved to be dealing with a friendly face and sighed through a smile.  Maiev did her finest impression of stone to date before growling at the farmer.  "Carry on.  Naisha!"  
  
    Her second fell into step just a half-pace back at Maiev's right shoulder.  "You presume much!  We have little need and less ability to store such luxuries!"  
  
    "Your Watchers would disagree, Mistress.  More than once these last one-hundred and ten have I heard longing for finery, and not only from the _Kaldorei_!"  
  
    That stopped Maiev, who looked to her second as though she were mad.  "What nonsense are you speaking of?"  
  
    "The Nightsabers, Mistress." she bowed.  "They work as tirelessly as their riders...I felt a little reward such as cream would do much to hold their morale high.  The wine would certainly do the same for our sisters."  
  
    "Let me know the next time you have such thoughts.  I can know my soldiers only so much therefore you must be my ears and eyes.  For Elune's love, I do not want our kin thinking this is some sort of vacation here!"  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    A pause came over the exchange, Maiev looking to the barrow doors.  "Tell Rakus to have her fun but she is to be training with her sisters in no more than a mark!"  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    Maiev was not entirely blind to the plights of her sisters.  She knew that their minds were never to be as keen or focused as her own, therefore covetous thoughts fill in the spaces.  Naisha was right and the rewards would do soldier and saber well where she would have refused both cream and wine out of spite if nothing else.  She was creating fine weapons, not sitting on her hands!    
  
    She made her way into the depths; down, down, down to Illidan's ill-lit cage.  
  
    "Ah, the Warden graces me with her luminescent presence."  
  
    In the dim light, his warped body gave a light of its own; a sickly fel green from the twisted scars that mocked what tattoos he'd once boasted.  Blind eyes raked over her cloaked form, her figure long since hidden, compliments of the impressive pauldrons her sisters had gifted her with.  Twin arcs aimed over her head, crescents of Elune sharp as spring grass; the mighty sickles with which she would strike down the criminals of the land.  She remembered how they had gasped when she quietly thanked them and settled her physical mantle upon her shoulders where her cloak hid her body.   
  
_"Now even from afar they will know Elune's weapon has come!"_  
  
 _"Warden, it is perfect!"_  
  
    Naisha had merely smiled amid all the clamor and rallied her sisters for celebration even if Maiev had politely declined to join them.  Illidan had mocked the gift, as expected.  Maiev, playing her part in their 'banter', sat silently, baiting him only when she'd grown bored with his broody silence.  
  
    "Rations have come.  Do try to actually eat your food this time.  I would hate to find out how long it takes for a half-demonic bastard to starve to death."  
  
    "I would not give you the pleasure." he gruffed.  
  
    "Freja's cooking is the best of them all, as you know.  Sit quietly tonight and I will bring your plate to you still warm."  
  
    "There will be meat?"  
  
    Not all elves held a...distaste with the thought of eating one of Azeroth's creatures.  Fortunately, only four of her brigade were even remotely put-off by the thought.  The demonic half breed seemed to burn off energy at astounding rates, however meat kept him sated longer.  If Illidan was quiet and didn't go on with his mooning over Tyrande, she rewarded him with fresh, hot food.  "I will send hunters out now."  
  
    She could hear his grin stretching in the click of his teeth.  She was sure he was trainable, without the leash of Tyrande, and liked to see what made him tick...even if that meant a bit of cruelty now and again.  However that night the food would be fresh, her Watchers would be able to relax a bit, and she hoped it would be a quiet night in the Barrow.  
  
      
  
  
    Indeed it proved almost too quiet.    
  
    The on-duty watchers received small glasses of the fine wine before returning to their shifts, spirits lifted.  Nightsabres purred and lapped up their reward with gusto, running about the stables and halls excitedly.  For those off-duty, their laughter and baudy commentary were audible far down the barrow corridors.  Maiev even claimed a glass of the potent alcohol, privately, taking her meal with Illidan in the deepest pit of the den.  
  
    He had attacked his meal with unforseen zeal, the portions of venision the first to suffer their fates.  The Betrayer ate the rest with a bit more delicacy, watching Maiev.  She knew he was watching, feeling his eyes scrape at her armor, trying to figure her out as much as she tried to figure him.  "You take hypocritical wine with your meal tonight, Warden.  No fear of a clouded mind, I see."  
  
    One knee crossed over the other, Maiev continued her browsing of reports and boldly sipped at the wine, a bare inch lower than when she'd brought it three hours prior.  "A gift to the Watchers from your unrequited, Betrayer."  It hit, she could tell without looking.  His chewing stopped and in her peripheral, she could see his head sag.  A devious smirk touched her lips.  "Freja's cooking is ash in comparison to a mere dream?"  
  
    He growled, tossing the tray at the unbreakable bars.  "The screech of your throat has left me without appetite."  
  
    "Oh?  Perhaps we are in need of a vacation from one another." she sighed, unrepentant and smiling broadly as she uncrossed her legs and rose with a scroll.  He could not see beneath the helm but there was no denying the grin in her voice.  "This tells me that there is another of your twisted kind running around the world and I might be suited to dragging him down into the depths, like you."  
  
    "You did not drag me." he stood, fists balled.  
  
    "That's right!" she slapped the scroll against a thigh.  "Your own blood did that, didn't he?  With the help of mighty Cenarius.  They buried your souless corpse in the earth and left me to guard what little remains."  
  
    He rushed the bars but was prevented from reaching out by the diving magic that guarded the spaces beween.  "Come and see what little there is!"  
  
    "Temper, temper...no wonder that soft-souled Tyrande doesn't want you."  
  
    "Hold your tongue, woman!"  
  
    For all his bluster, it only fed Maiev's desire to drive the knives in deeper.  "You killed friends and family and your sick, twisted need for magic almost killed her.  Yes, the woman you so devoutly tattled to almost destroyed the woman who ignores your love."  She chuckled.  "And with all that blood, with all your painful love for her, you still would have played puppet to any who promised you could get your fix!  Crawl for _me_ , Betrayer."  
  
    He bellowed wordlessly and tried to force his way through the magic, all his power paling before Elune's grace as it kicked him back, flat on his ass.  Maiev sighed, much in the way of a satisfied lover, and settled her weight on one leg.  "Maybe a vacation is in order.  There is justice to be done, after all.  Relax and think of your beloved, Betrayer."  
  
    "I hope he wrings your neck and eats that block of ice from your chest!"  
  
    Maiev ignored the comment, pausing outside the hall and speaking to the guards.  "Leave the food and wine until they rot.  Let him look upon them and hunger."  
  
    "Yes, Warden."  
  
    She appreciated their crisp reply but did not salute - none of them did.  Though Maiev was Illidan's jailor, she was technically not the Watchers' commander however her combat experience and iron-will when it came to the Betrayer put her in an unintentional teaching position and that more than her supernatural stores of stamina, made them regard her as something more.  A Watcher patrolling the corridors nodded and Maiev stopped her.  "Where is Naisha?"  
  
    That was something else.  Naisha's way with the Warden combined with her open attitude with the rest of the Watchers put her in a unique position; neither at their level or above, but something just slightly outside.  Taliah replied immediately.  "Last I saw, Warden, she and Califax were taking lessons from Freja in the kitchen."  
  
    "Carry on."  
  
    "Warden."  
  
    Light, brisk steps took Maiev up and to the kitchen within a minute, those steps given pause when she caught a whif of the undeniable stench of spider ichor.  Stepping into the kitchen proved the source.  A dozen adult spider corpses in various states of demise were flipped onto their backs all round the kitchen, a few sitting on the floor.  There was a loud POP and Maiev automatically lifted her hand, catching a jet-black spider eye.  
  
    "Warden!"  
  
    "Ah, Shadowsong!"  
  
    "Califax." she greeted politely, staring at her two subordinates for a strange minute.    
  
    Their faces had bits of green ichor and spider hairs sticking at random and while Freja seemed embarrassed, scrubbing at her face and hands with a towel, Naisha only smiled, clearly toning her grin down.  "Mistress."  
  
    "I'm just showing them the number of ways a spider can be used to the fullest, Warden." Freja offered.  
  
    That would explain the number of missing limbs, claws, joints, fangs, hair, eyes, and bodily organs.  It looked more like a butcher shop but given where Freja came from, Maiev understood.  Spiders formed dense colonies in dark, defendable areas so they were a popular food and given that they repeatedly tried to colonize the barrow, more than one or two meals were made of spider meat.  She tossed the eyeball back, Freja catching and dropping it into the corpse they were all looking at.  "Carry on, Freja.  Naisha, come with me."  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    Maiev left and it wasn't ten seconds before Naisha was in step with her, though, as always, a half-step back on her right.  There were only a few spider hairs left from where she'd quickly scrubbed them off.  "I will be leaving for a bounty, you are in charge of Illidan while I am away."  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    "I anticipate being back in half a fortnight."  
  
    "Yes Mistress."  
  
    "Do not feed him for at least four days.  No one is to speak to him, not even you. "  
  
    So, things would be much as they always were.  "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    "Keep up the training schedule.  Let no one slack.  I will test all of you upon my return."  
  
    "Was the wine good, Mistress?"  
  
    Maiev paused at the left-field question, the turn of her helm all the question she needed.   
  
    Naisha smiled.  "I have not had any myself, in case you needed me."  
  
    How to answer.  The Warden felt inordinately pleased that at least one of her Watchers had not imbibed though what drew this one to think she'd take some for herself?  She'd been quite discreet about it.  "Have a glass, Naisha, but make sure your head stays clear.  I leave now."  
  
    "Thank you Mistress, I will.  _Elune adore_."  
  
    " _Ande'thoras-ethil_."  
  



	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will likely be something added before this...maybe. Probably.

    Rakus laughed but was under and over the water, spluttering, in short order.  "You're dead!" she challenged, chasing after Naisha.  
  
    Taliah scowled as the water, disturbed by the rough trade, washed past her nostrils.  Beside her, Rana purred and nudged her forehead, the nightsaber bathing with her rider after a nasty run in with some kobolds that had them not only scratched up but covered in soot and grime.  Across the spring and scrubbing on the rocks, Nila smiled and shook her head, rinsing the suds from her body with a small wooden tub.  She waited to enter the spring until Naisha and Rakus went by again, sighing as the heat soothed over-worked muscles.  "The first day's always the best." she smiled.  
  
    Rana moved off to join in the game of chase, now involving half the alpha team as Rakus dragged two of her sisters in...fully clothed sisters.  Taliah shook her head.  "How they can act like this is a game is beyond me."  
  
    "Stress-relief, I'm sure." Nila closed her eyes, leaning her head back to soak her scalp.  "Sort of how kittens learn to fight."  
  
    Taliah snickered then gasped as she watched Rana liberally jump off the rocky edge and soak everyone within ten feet with her mighty splash-landing.  "Speaking of kittens..."  
  
    Rana's toothy grin as she came out of the water made her impervious to scolding as Watchers ruffled her fur and hugged her neck, laughing at her over-stated contribution to the fun.  Nightsabers didn't normally join a full crew of Watchers however Rana had earned her keep that day and enjoyed the company of many two-legged friends.  
  
    "It is time off and shouldn't be over-thought." Nila commented, head rising from the water.  "If we worked a continuous schedule, on alert all the time, we'd be a bit crazy."  
  
    "Kind of like the Warden."  
  
    They giggled but Nila shushed her.  "For each year, she grows more silent, more sullen.  I swear the only one she truly talks to now is Naisha."  
  
    "I heard a rumor they're sleeping together."  
  
    "Really?!"  
  
    "Shh!"  
  
    "By Elune, wouldn't that be something?" Nila lowered her voice, swimming over to sit next to Taliah.  "The Warden is so...so...dour, and Naisha's so...bright and happy!  Even when the Warden is at her worst, Naisha always has a smile!"  
  
    "She's just as deadly, though." Taliah conferred.  "You can hear them late at night going at each other in the training hall."  
  
    "You mean getting on each other?"  
  
    Taliah blushed and laughed shrilly in her surprise, splashing Nila.  "Hold your tongue!" she hissed at Nila's giggling.  
  
    Naisha smiled and nodded at what Rakus and Ilea were telling her, keeping an eye on the gossping pair some twenty feet off.  She could guess what they whispered about...it had become all the rage around their fifteen-hundreth year and had been going on for some time.  If she could find the root and crush it, she would!  Gossip took no time at all to circulate in such a small crew of Kaldorei and she knew the Warden was conscious of it.  Maiev would have to be a fool to not.  
  
    She'd spent more and more time barbing Illidan, clawing at his emotional sores and actually blinking into his cage twice to physically beat him down.  He seemed to relish the conflict as much as she.  There were fewer bounties the last ten years, perhaps the Warden was merely restless?    
  
    "Why don't you just go off and have kids?  You're obviously over the moon for each other!"  
  
    Naisha blinked at Rakus, who seemed a bit put on the spot.  Ilea had a certain...blunt way of saying things.  Rakus was not their youngest member however she was the most drawn to the world above and pulled a number of different favors to get duty for the monthly deliveries, just so she could be with her farm-hand lover.  Rakus blushed a bit but cleared her throat.  "I made a promise to be here and help the Warden...I couldn't possibly ask her to let me go.  Probably wouldn't even let me."  
  
    Naisha grabbed her friend's shoulder.  "She may understand more than you think."  
  
    Hope sparked in Rakus' eyes.  If anyone but Naisha had told her, she would have called them a fool.  The Warden had absolutely no compassion for any prisoner, especially the Betrayer, and showed little more to her kin.  However no night elf in their right mind would raise children in a barrow den and that alone would tip the scales to Rakus' favor.  She took a breath and sighed.  "I...I'll think about it."  
  
    "Okay." Naisha smiled encouragingly.  She didn't want to lose any of the women that had become her family but it wouldn't be right to force Rakus to stay.  
  
    The churning thoughts left her in little and less of a mood for the bath and she made her excuses, drying and slipping on her leathers, boots, and cloak, her feet carrying her in idle while her mind worked.  Would it be so bad?  They would be down to twenty-nine plus the Warden, still very advantageous numbers.  But would others see the barrow doors as wide open then?  Would others follow Rakus and demand to leave?  How many could they lose before the barrows were naught but shadows?  
  
    And the rumors.  Dear Elune, the rumors!  What started it?  Naisha made sure the Watchers were given comfort and familiar things to lighten their otherwise spartan lives in the barrows.  She reported to Maiev regarding the health and progress of the Watchers and prisoners.  Maiev showed her no more kindness than any other, scolded her just as often and as harsh, made sure that Naisha was taking a commanding role and not just a friendly one...  
  
    Was that it?  Naisha was taking on more of the barrow leadership so Maiev was favoring her?  Didn't they see that she was living up to her sworn duty and spending her time guarding the Betrayer?  Her thoughts ran in loops and laughed at her.  
  
    Wait...it was actual laughter!  
  
    Confused, Naisha moved towards the sound.  All her off-duty sisters were in the baths currently and they could not have passed her without her knowing, even when so deep in thought.  Quiet conversation broke the laughs and Naisha peeked around just in time to see Anu kiss Kaela, pressing her against the wall.  Both were on-duty and in full armor...Elune's mercy!  
  
    Flushed, Naisha crossed the doorway quickly and hurried on.  She was more embarrassed about having caught such a private moment than anything, her mind racing such circles she ran into a corner.  
  
    A metal corner?  
  
    Managing her feet, Naisha realized she'd run headlong into Maiev, who stared at her with an expression of stone.  "Naisha."  
  
    "Mai--Warden!"  
  
    A dark brow cocked.  She might have to try going about without her helm more often if it made her second address her correctly!  "You look fevered."  
  
    "I am not, Mistress."  
  
    Ah, nix the helm theory.  "Good.  I suggest you walk with your eyes up."  
  
    "I shall, Mistress."  
  
    Maiev continued on, listening as Naisha fell into her customary step just to her right flank.  "Something is bothering you."  
  
    "You have heard the rumors, Mistress?"  
  
    How could she not have?  Califax, bless his elemental heart, went babbling on and on and didn't even realize what he was telling her.  "I have."  
  
    "They have continued for some time.  Should I address them?"  
  
    "No.  Doing so will make us both suspect.  Continue with your duties as normal."  
  
    So...just ignore it and it will go away?  Right.  "As you wish, Mistress."  
  
    They crossed the room where Naisha had inadvertently peeked in on a private moment however Anu and Kaela had moved on already.  She didn't clear her throat as she so wanted to.  Now they were just moving in the same direction, the silence tense between them, until Naisha could break away to her own quarters.  She dared one last conversation before they came up on her exit.  "Mistress?  I have been wondering, are you deliberately giving me more and more command of the Watchers?"  
  
    "I am not their leader, Naisha.  You have learned my fighting styles, you have handled almost every situation with aplomb.  It is time for them to have someone to look up to; someone who can lead as their Warden."  
  
    "I...Mistress, is that not you?"  
  
    Maiev stopped at a crossing of corridors, where she knew the right led to Watcher quarters.  "Naisha, I am here to guard the Betrayer; to keep him locked in the dark.  That is my only function.  You are a born leader and it is past time for you to take up that mantle."  
  
    Naisha stared for a minute, her brows knitting.  "Beg pardon, Mistress, but I refuse."  
  
    Maiev turned and it was definitely not happiness in her eyes.  "That is my order.  Refuse it and be locked up like the rest of these criminals."  
  
    "The High Priestess and the Archdruid are not who I report to." she argued.  "I elected to be here, to report to one Warden.  That is you, Mistress."  
  
    Her bluff called, Maiev glared at her second, almost trembling with fury.  Did the girl not see?  This was to be the way as Maiev was not there for the Watchers, she was only there for the Betrayer!  She growled.  "You are willing to be locked up for this gross insubordination?  To be no better than the filth behind bars?"  
  
    "If it is your will, Mistress."  
  
    Would it take long to groom another for her place?  Maiev's brows crunched together, knowing the answer to that, and she delivered a cold back-handed slap to Naisha's right cheek.  However she was still wearing her gauntlets and the strike opened several gashes on Naisha's skin.  Colder than the peaks of Northrend, she whispered, "You are better than this, Naisha.  Do not lick my boots for scraps."  
  
    Her entire head buzzed with the pain but Naisha bore through, her jaw tight.  "You are my Warden, Mistress.  Hand me the power of Elune and I will _still_ follow your word as law."  
  
    Maiev's hand reached out again, this time to cup the bloody wounds.  She muttered a prayer and a gentle, pure light healed the gashes, the Warden's ancient training not yet separate from her current charge.  For several tense minutes, she stared at Naisha, who watched her without fear.  "You are loyal, Naisha."  A corner of her lips quirked, just for a moment.  "It is rare in these troubled days."  
  
    Jubilance filled the second-commander as she realized she would not be taking over the Warden's position.  Naisha smiled.  "What is your will, Mistress?"  
  
    "Clean yourself up and report to me in exactly one mark."  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lordy, there are people actually glancing through this mess! :)
> 
> Mind the gap! Much of this is early ramblings from ages ago so there will be character gaps, plot holes, wear your hardhats! I'll see what I can't do to patch up.

    For the next six hundred years did Maiev put her second through every rigorous and degenerate task available, testing her limits.  Naisha would always reply with a 'yes, Mistress' and a smile, no matter the order or how tired she might be.  Compliments of a certain second-in-command, the gossip moved from Maiev to Anu and Kaela and around several different topics, never again settling upon Maiev.  
  
    Naisha now worked virtually every night.  She began and ended with reporting to Maiev, who would give her a task or send her away for rest.  
  
    "You really must have tripped her trigger." Anu shook her head from Naisha's doorway.  
  
    Polishing Maiev's armor, as she did once a month, Naisha shrugged a shoulder.  "It keeps me from being bored."  
  
    "You should take someone to bed.  That's how the rest of us keep from being bored."  
  
    "Speaking of, where is Kaela?"  
  
    "Running drills."  
  
    "To stave off boredom?"  
  
    Anu's stoney silence was all the answer needed.  
  
    "You could join her, you know."  
  
    "Not all of us need to run through the motions a hundred times a night." was the sigh.  "I'm volunteering for the next border-ride, get some fresh air."  
  
    "You two fighting?"  
  
    "Not at all." Anu snubbed the very idea.  "Why does she make you do all this stuff anyway?  Polishing armor, cleaning the stables, running scheduled drills, paperwork...it is beneath you."  
  
    "I am her second, it is my honor to assist her however she desires."  
  
    "Uhg, you sound like a Sentinel now." Anu teased gently.  "I heard a word that an inspection is coming."  
  
    Naisha ceased polishing and gawked.  "Truly?!  When?"  
  
    "A hippogryph came by last night, dropped word off.  I figured the Warden already knew."  
  
    Naisha would have known then, that was a common fact by now.  She resumed her polishing, her eyes distant and thoughtful.  "When is it due?"  
  
    "The High Priestess and her Commander should be here in six nights."  
  
    "Full of bluster, I'd bet." Naisha sighed, setting the pauldron aside.  The shine would do for just then but with this news, she'd be re-shining soon.  "I need to make sure the Warden knows."  
  
    "I'll go with you."  
  
  
  
  
    "Mistress?"  
  
    The voice and title were so mis-matched in her mind that Maiev actually turned, glaring upon Ilea.  A bizzare wave of anger and offense bubbled up but was forced down into nothing by the Warden's iron will.  No one else had called her 'mistress' apart from Naisha in centuries!  "Watcher."  
  
    "Califax asked me to tell you he will be going out of the den and returning in two nights."  
  
    Ilea surely imagined she heard something about 'call of the wild' from her Warden but had little time to think on it as Maiev pinned her with cold eyes.  "Is that all?"  
  
    "Yes, mis...Warden."  
  
    "Dismissed."  
  
    She went back to the requisition at her desk, pacing and glaring as though it might somehow make more sense to her.  It was absolutely impossible!    
  
    "Mistress, I have word fo--"  
  
    "Where have you been?!"  
  
    Naisha stopped dead, brought up short by the snapped question.  Her brows knit a little but she responded.  "Polishing your armor, as you requested."  
  
    Of course.  Why had she snapped at her?  Maiev resumed her pacing.  "What is it?"  
  
    "An envoy is coming in six-night's time bearing the High Priestess and her Commander for an inspection."  
  
    Maiev went still apart from her head, which turned to glare at Anu.  "Get out."  
  
    "Warden!"  
  
    Anu met up with Ilea a short ways out and they glanced at one another.  "Run away?" Anu suggested.  
  
    "Let's!"  
  
    "Tyrande and Shandris are coming here?!"  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    "For an inspection?"  
  
    "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    "Why?"  
  
    Naisha frowned.  "I do not know, Mistress."  
  
    "What right do they have?  _We_ run this barrow den!  _We_ keep the prisoners!"  
  
    "Perhaps the High Priestess merely wishes to check up on the Watchers?"  
  
    Maiev glared.    
  
    "To ensure we are doing well living within the barrow." she clarified.  "Not all Kaldorei handle such seclusion as well as we have."  
  
    "It's not like they can bring Elune _IN_ so what is the point?" she huffed, glaring once more at the requistion.  
  
    Naisha could not answer the question without seriously pissing the Warden off so remained quiet.  Maiev fumed in arctic silence for several minutes before Naisha realized something.  "Mistress?  Should I prepare guest quarters?"  
  
    Maiev's sigh was heavy with resentment.  "We have no guest quarters, Naisha, you know this."  
  
    "I do, Mistress, however if the High Priestess and her cadre plan to stay, Watchers can bunk together temporarily or in the dining hall."  
  
    The Warden scrubbed her face with her hands, anger seeping from every pore.  "Did the messenger say anything about an extended stay?"  
  
    Naisha cringed.  "I do not know, Mistress.  I came to you before Anu told me the full contents of the message."  
  
    Maiev took a deep breath though there was little calm about it.  "Find her.  Find out the details of the message, return to me.  For this visit, I want all of us in perfect form!"  
  
      
  
  
    The week-long visit had them all on edge, as did the tight quarters.  While Anu and Kaela didn't mind it, for obvious reasons, the rest tried to take it in stride in spite of occasional snips at one another.  Snips were the public facade...it ended up being more like knock-down-dragout fights in the training hall, a Watcher's favored entertainment, and Maiev was no exception.  Watcher after Watcher went into the fight, sometimes tag-teamed, sometimes all together, and fell back in defeat before the undying frustration of Maiev's heart.  
  
    Then Naisha arrived with Tyrande and Shandris in-tow.  
  
    "My, you have certainly put this hall to use." Tyrande looked around in a bit of awe.  Every conceivable weapon was on display and ready for combat.  
  
    At her left, Naisha heard a sigh from Shandris and cocked a brow at her.  "Is something wrong, Commander?"  
  
    "Nothing at all.  We should be leaving soon, though.  Clearly our presence has disturbed the natural order of things."  
  
    It was said without malice and with no hidden agenda so Naisha took it at face value.  "The Warden is merely exhausted.  It puts us all on edge."  
  
    "She has quite the temper." Shandris chuckled.  "Naisha, I have been wondering, though..."  
  
    Without knowing what Shandris had heard, with nothing but the commander's reticence to bring her to the assumption, Naisha's expression steeled.  "Yes?"  
  
    Shandris, a veteran of combat, master of the bow, destroyer of demons, felt a chill crawl down her spine.  She was still so recently an adult and found this stay underground to be excessively unnerving, especially in the presence of Maiev.  "It is nothing." she deflected.  
  
    Naisha relaxed her hackles and took a slow breath, watching as Maiev controlled her breathing and fielded comments and questions from Tyrande.  Her gifted mantle made her look so much bigger than the High Priestess yet Tyrande's figure seemed to glow as the moon above did, making her look so much...more.  Naisha wondered if the Warden ever looked as Goddess-touched during her time in the Temple.  Then again, it didn't really matter.  Now her Warden was touched by the shadows, gifted with silence and stealth, made invisible where she did not want to be seen and it gave her a feral edge that Tyrande lacked.  
  
    The tour came to a slow, almost painful end, brought about by Kaela's appearance.  "The feast is ready, when you are, High Priestess."  
  
    How it bothered Maiev that her Watchers reported to Tyrande as though they were mere Sentinels!   Anything the High Priestess wanted, she received with all haste, nevermind that it was Maiev's order that brought about such obedience.  The only avenue Tyrande had not explored was the path down to Illidan's prison for there the Watchers stood thick and bristled, all blades as they informed the visitors that none but Maiev or Califax would set foot down that path.  It heartened the Warden in a way unexpected and kept her chin high through the ordeal.  
  
    Watcher and Sentinel alike filtered out however Naisha's left elbow was grabbed, holding her in place until they'd fallen behind the group.  "Make an excuse.  You dine with me tonight."  
  
    Perhaps it was throwing decorum into Tyrande's face however Naisha gave a nod.  "As you will, Mistress."  
  
    For once, she walked in front of the Warden, her long strides carrying her through sisters until she found Anu. The taller Watcher bent to hear Naisha's quiet words and straightened with a nod, freeing the second commander to once more fall back to her customary place at Maiev's flank.  "It is done, Mistress."  
  
    "Good.  Follow me."  
  
    They took a separate path, away from the dining hall and down to Watcher quarters where Maiev made a quick series of left and right turns, taking them down to the spring where all bathed.  The Warden began to shed armor and clothing, Naisha taking care to fold the clothing and stack the armor neatly.  She waited quietly while Maiev scrubbed her body with a rough sponge.  
  
    Nudity was little of an issue among Kaldorei who spent years on end in close-quarters and on time-sensitive shifts.  So it was that Naisha's eyes did not linger overly long on any part of her Warden, merely browsed and silently counted each pale scar on the robust violet skin, spying a few new ones.  She did not know the story behind many of them but a few she recognized from Maiev's...aggressive tactics.  Be it spiders or criminals, she held no fear for her own flesh and shrugged off wounds that would have crippled others.  
  
    "Do you have family?"  
  
    It took a minute for Naisha to realize the question was directed at her.  The Warden had a tendancy of talking to herself.  "I did, Mistress, however they were slain by felhounds in the war."  
  
    "Any children?"  
  
    A strange conversation, this!  Maiev didn't exactly go out of her way to learn personal history, that was Naisha's job.  "No, Mistress."  
  
    "Rakus is pregnant." she stated as though speaking of the weather, handing a small bottle out to Naisha.  
  
    The second commander accepted the bottle and began to rub the soap into Maiev's short mossy locks.  "I did not realize..." she breathed, her hesitations of centuries past coming to the fore.  "She will want to leave."  
  
    "As she should.  Spider-infested barrows are no place to raise a child."  
  
    "Are you not afraid others will attempt to leave as well?"  
  
    A cold eye glanced at Naisha.  "Others have placed requests as well...Watchers with family they desperately wish to see."  
  
    Naisha hesitated.  "You are going to let them leave."  
  
    "Tyrande's visit is too well-timed with these requests, it is likely she has received word and will plead their cases with me however my heart is deaf to their imploring.  I will fight it and lose for she will make it an order or retrieve Cenarius, or Shan'do Stormrage, and they will issue a command to leave me no choice.  However I know that your heart is not cold or deaf.  You are going to let them leave, Naisha, for one year.  Your benevolence will asuage any doubts the Sisterhood may have.  And in their gratitude, our sisters will return less bitter."  
  
    Her hands stilled only to start up again and lift a pitcher to rinse the suds away.  This part of Maiev's bathing had become her part as well when, two hundred years prior, the Warden had her arm wrenched so powerfully by an insane treant, she'd been unable to move anything from shoulder to elbow while the muscles healed.  Naisha's assistance had been questioned and punished but was now an accepted part of Maiev's process.  
  
    Cleaned, Maiev left the short stool and eased herself into the spring, a battle-worth of sore muscles unbunching in relief.  Naisha cleaned up and stood near the entrance to the spring, guarding her Warden's privacy.  A good half an hour passed in peaceful repose, Naisha unwilling to break the silence Maiev so appreciated.  She saw Shandris coming and stepped into the corridor, her stance set.  "Sentinel." she greeted politely.  
  
    But Shandris was flushed and full of anger and she grabbed Naisha's cloak.  "Your Warden would dare insult the High Priestess?!"  
  
    An acidic retort was caught just behind her teeth and Naisha grabbed Shandris' wrist, squeezing.  "Freja prepared a royal spread for your Sentinels and the High Priestess.  When the Warden has no appetite, she does not eat."  
  
    "Well, if the Lady's host has no appetite..." was the sneer.  "Tyrande is the High Priestess and she deserves the honor of your Warden's company!"  
  
    She didn't catch it this time.  "I can talk to Elune, sister; all night, every night.  Perhaps _I_ will vie for High Priestess next."  
  
    The look on Shandris' face was one Naisha would remember for some time.  She'd hear word that Tyrande had taken in some orphan with an unnatural talent for the bow and just then, it was as though Naisha had slandered the girl's mother.  She dodged the swing for her head but in so doing, went chest-first into a plated knee and lost all semblance of breath.  Her vision was washed out by a flare of green and the song and spark of knives against barrow stone.  She pushed to her feet, glaring around heavy pauldrons.  
  
    "An attack on my Watchers can be considered treason."  
  
    Shandris stared into the damned blank helm, its sickly green eyes, and she imagined the woman beneath to have eyes the same color in spite of knowing otherwise.  "Speaking ill of the High Priestess can be as well, Maiev...as you well know."  
  
    The blades peeking out of the fur edging Maiev's cloak made no sound as they slowly sank back into hiding.  Maiev stared at the rising star of the reformed Sentinel army and pointed her golden-clawed fingers.  "Run back to the skirts of your _mother_ , child.  Harm any of my Watchers again and it will be _my_ justice."  
  
    "I have heard of what you call justice!" she scoffed, spitting at the ground before Maiev.  
  
    Naisha produced a knife.  "Spit again, serpant, and I will cut out your tongue."  
  
    "Naisha."  
  
    The second in command sighed in frustration but sheathed the blade.  "Yes, Mistress."  
  
    "Mistress..." Shandris laughed to herself as she turned heel.  "You train your hounds, well, Warden Shadowsong.  That much is certain."  
  
    Naisha gripped her knives to the point of pain.  She was an excellent shot with a tossed knife but Elune only knew what horrors she would bring upon the den by killing the arrogant little snot.  Her prey left sight with a curious Wildkin poking his head around the corner.  Naisha bowed her head to Maiev.  "Apologies, mistress.  I should not have baited her."  
  
    When a hand gripped her shoulder and Naisha looked up, she could have sworn she could see a smile in the play of light on the helm, in the eyes hidden within.  "She is young still, and therefore stupid.  Be at ease, friend.  You did well."  
  
    Friend?  Naisha's grin was uncontainable.  
  



End file.
